Minimum wage legislation is a valid regulation of freedom of contract; seen as ending the Lochner era. Decided March 29, 1937 (argued 1936). Opinion of the Court: Charles Evans Hughes → go there Dissenting: Sutherland. Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Businesses/Corporations/Contracts. West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the constitutionality of state minimum wage legislation. The court's decision overturned an earlier holding in Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923) and is generally regarded as having ended the Lochner era, a period in American legal history during which the Supreme Court tended to invalidate legislation aimed at regulating business. Wiki link